Don’t be bummed if you didn’t start Alex Smith. No one saw this coming.. the offense was playing terribly, the Jets were playing very well against opposing QBs. It was a perfect storm for Smith in this game.

Keenan Allen straight up balling over the last 3 weeks. He’s been pretty unreliable most of this season, and a flip switched 3 weeks ago and now he’s getting 14 targets a week and 10+ catches, catching a TD every week.

With no Damien Williams, Kenyan Drake had 26 touches and a huge run for a TD in this game. We don’t know when Williams will return, but according to some medical research I’ve done, and I’m not a doctor, but he could be out a few more weeks. If this guy is going to get 20+ touches a game, he can be someone who can really help u out in the playoffs.

Really not sure what happened to Davante Parker. In the two games that Cutler played between the Matt Moore games, Stills averaged 6 targets, nothing crazy. He blew up in this game, but only caught 5 of his 13 targets for 98 yards and a TD. First great game for Moore with Cutler. Parker has been getting it done with Cutler for the most part when healthy, especially in PPR. Huge disappointment. I won’t trust him as much coming up, but I can totally see him getting the targets that Stills got in the next game.

Gronk messed up in this game. He had a great game, but after a play where he got frustrated with Tredavious White holding him, as White was on the ground he kind of torpedoed his body into his head and he reportedly got a concussion because of the hit. Gronk is probably going to get suspended for at least a game.

Zach Ertz had a concussion in this game, so keep in mind that you might need a TE this week if he can’t pass through the concussion protocol in time for next week’s game.

Tyrod Taylor was absolutely terrible before he got carted off with a knee injury. The offense is going to take a hit with Nate Peterman in there, but still starting McCoy. Going to stay away from everyone else. Will also need to consider defenses going up against the Bills.

It’s becoming harder to trust Jordan Howard right now. In a game where the Bear were leading over the 49ers, he only saw 13 carries at home. The fact that he’s limited in the receiving game makes him hard to trust. No more than 15 carries since their bye week 4 weeks ago. It’s not him, it’s coaching. Also, the Bears only ran like 35 plays, where the average amount is like 65. This is not the first time it’s happened for the Bears.

Marquise Goodwin was a nice surprise for the 49ers, as he actually put in work as a possession receiver with Jimmy Garropolo. Caught all 8 of his targets for 99 yards, and is someone I would definitely consider picking up on waivers this week.

Peyton Barber was announced as the starter about an hour before game time, and I mentioned it right here. It was significant, because we assumed that Jacquizz Rodgers would start, get the carries, and Barber would come in for goal line carries, and Charles Sims would come in in passing situations

I’m trying to pick Barber up even with Doug Martin likely coming back. Martin struggled even in good matchups, and Barber proved that he could get it done with volume. This is a classic situation where someone got the opportunity and did everything they could for the coaches to reconsider who the starter is, and it’s all up to the coaches now. We’ve seen stuff like this happen before. Remember Jeremy Langford last year? He sucked, he got hurt, Jordan Howard had the opportunity, and see ya Langford. Not saying this is the exact situation, but this is more about recognizing these situations. If I knew that Barber was going to be the starter before an hour before kickoff, he would’ve been a good prospective add in case he kills it.

Cam Brate is back in the fold. With Jameis, he’s his guy. Jameis’ passing rating when targeting tight ends is incredible, and outside of that is not that great, so Brate was straight up irrelevant without Jameis. Pick him up if you need a TE.

With Aaron Jones back “healthy”, he only played on 2 damn snaps. 1 of those snaps was his game-winning TD. Him being active really threw a wrench into a lot of people’s plans on playing Jamaal Williams, and the concern was real. Just didn’t work out with Williams playing on 48 of 50 snaps. There’s still going to be a mystery over whether we can start Williams next week will Jones another week into it, it’ll be tough to make that decision.

Jay Ajayi actually led Philly’s backfield in snaps and touches (11) this week. 31 for him, 28 for Clement, and 14 for Blount. It seems like Ajayi is becoming more of the #1 here, but I’m not 100% convinced he’s the guy going forward, but assuming he is, good timing for him. He’s going up against the Rams next week, who couldn’t stop Kerwynn Williams yesterday on like 6 straight runs at one point. One thing to note is that Blount had to be completely written out of the game script with Philly down the whole game. So if Philly is up, does Blount reclaim that role? That’s the question and that’s why there’s still uncertainty.

Mike Davis looked good last night. He played on 45 snaps, and JD McKissic was 2nd with 9. He’s capable in both the run and pass game, and even played on 3rd down in the 2nd half. If Mike Davis has a 3-down role going forward, you found yourself a good option going forward.

The only threat to his role would be Chris Carson, but Pete Carroll’s enthusiasm for Carson’s return is very different to a lot of medical opinions on when Carson can come back, and according to them it doesn’t seem likely in the regular season. But what do I know? I’m not a doctor.

It’s funny, I wrote my notes for these stories, and I get a notification saying that Pete Caroll said that Chris Carson is “unbelievably ahead of schedule”. Can’t make this up. If you own Davis, sure, pick up Carson in case it happens. I probably won’t. If Mike Davis continues doing what he’s doing, it’s going to be hard to justify putting Carson back in there after that injury anyway. He did mention that he’s going to need 2 weeks of practice before he can play, and it’s unclear whether he can practice this week. Doesn’t look like he’s returning for fantasy playoffs.

So Ben McAdoo got fired today. Great, 7 weeks too late. But here’s the really sad part. Eli Manning is expected to get back his starting job. But the damage has been done. Manning doesn’t have the streak going anymore, and it was because of McAdoo. That’s just sad. Made Eli cry on TV, what a mess.